Feeding mechanism.



G. J. FANCHER.

FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24, 1912.

1,074,703. Patnte'd 0015.7,1913.

' WITNESSES: 11v VENTOR.

may M aXW W ATTORNEY UNITED sTATs AT @TCE.

CHARLES J. FANCHEB, OF THOMPSONVILLE, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNCR TO THE EXTENSIVE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FEEDING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 24, 1912. Serial No. 699,386.

To all whom it may concern Be it knownthat I, CHARLES J. FANoHnR, a citizen of theUnited States of America, residing at Thompsonville, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeding Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in feeding mechanism which is especially adapted for stamp afiixers and the like, such as is set forth in my application for Letters Patent of the United States, filed June 21, 1911, Serial No. 63t,395, and particularly to the gripping'jaws of such mechanism, and consists essentially of cooperating jaw members one of which is provided with independent sections that are adapted normally to contact 'with the other jaw member throughout practically the entire length of the latter, when the jaws are closed, being arranged preferably to thus contact with a resilient force, and that are capable of yield- .ing to obstructions interposed between the gripping elements at one or more points, without being affected at points where there are no obstructions or releasing the grip at such last-mentioned points on the thing being fed, all as hereinafter set forth.

It frequently occurs that particles of grit and other foreign substances get between the gripping jaws of feeding mechanism for flexible strips of stamps or other units and prevent the jaws from closing properly, with the result that such mechanism fails to advance or feed a stamp or unit, and the primary object of my invention is to overcome this defect, which I do by providing the jaws or one of them with yielding means which enable said jaws to close tightly on the strip or unit regardless of the presence or absence of any obstruction that is liable to findits way between them.

A further object is to furnish a jaw element for feeding purposes which is resilient as a whole, to the end that a normally uniform as well as firm grip is had on the material being fed whenever the jaws are closed.

I attain these objects by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which'- V Figure 1 is an inside elevation of and transverse section through a practical and preferred form embodiment of my in" vention, the section being taken on lines 1-1, in Fig. 3; Fig. 2, what may be termed a front elevation of the jaws and associated parts shown in the preceding view; Fig. 3, a bottom plan of said jaws and parts, and, Fig. 4:, a front elevation of said jaws as they appear when closed and with obstructions between them.

The jaws are illustrated in their closed positions in Figs. 2 and 3, and in the same manner in full lines and as open by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The opening and closing of the jaws is or may be effected by moving the upper jaw relative to the under jaw as indicated in the first view.

Similar figures refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

7 As illustrated in connection herewith, there are under and upper jaw elements of substantially the same general description as corresponding elements included in the mechanism of the application before alluded to, with one very important exception. This exception consists of a series of yielding sections or fingers attached to the under side of the under-jaw cross piece to take the place of said cross piece as the actual gripping element or elements, said cross piece being made narrower than in the other case. These yielding fingers either alone or together with the cross piece that carries and supports them may be said to constitute the lower jaw.

The old members comprise arms 2 arranged at their upper ends for pivotal connection as before, and connected at their lower ends by a cross piece 3, which is narrow as compared with the former cross piece or under jaw; and two shorter arms 4 inside of said first-mentioned arms and pivoted thereto at 55, and a cross piece 6 which connects said arms 4e at their bases. The pivots5 connect the upper ends of the arms 4: wit-h the long arms 2 intermediate of the ends of said long arms. The cross piece 6 is the upper gripping element or jaw proper. The bottom of the jaw 6 is beveled, as shown at 7, so as to present a suitable gripping surface. These members may be caused to operate and coact by the means and in the manner set forth in the prior application,

or other means which may or may not in volve a different mode of operation may be employed, it being immaterial so far as the present application is concerned whether or not the same actuating mechanism for the two pairs of arms be provided.

In the present embodiment of my invention I provide a thin plate 8 and slot the same transversely from the front edge thereof inwardly to form a series of fingers 9. This plate is riveted or otherwise securely attached to the underside of the cross piece 3, as shown at 10, such fastening means being located adjacent to the rear edges of both said plate and said cross piece. The plate 8 is of resilient material. The fingers 9 extend beyond the front edge of the cross piece 3 far enough to enable the front ends of said fingers to contact with the beveled part 7 of the upper jaw 6, when the jaws are closed, adjacent to the front edge of said jaw 6. I prefer to bend the fingers 9 transversely adjacent to the front edge of the cross piece 3, so as to give an upward direction to the protruding portions of said fingers, such bend or bends appearing at 11 in Figs. 1 and 3. By thus bending the fingers and by extending their protruding portions upwardly at a sufiicient angle, the fingers are caused to yield downwardly, when the jaw 6 is swung down onto their front ends, and a firmer grip is had in consequence on an object which is between said jaw and said finger ends, or, in other words, a resilient grip is provided. When the upper jaw is actuated away from the under jaw the resiliency of the material of which the plate 8 and fingers 9 are made causes the parts to move upwardly until those portions that are beneath the cross piece 3 contact throughout their entire length with such cross piece. The resilient parts fulcrum as it were on the rivets 10. If desired the free ends of the fingers 9 at their extremities may be turned up a little, as best shown at 12 in Fig. 1, so as to afford a suflicient ,area of gripping surface for contact with the jaw 6 to insure a certain and sure grip on the strip or unit being fed. In this view a piece of a strip 13 is represented as being in the grasp of the closed jaws.

In practice, the jaws after being closed tightly on the end of the strip 13 which is between them are actuated to advance such strip or a portion of the same which may be torn off in the operation, and then they are opened to release the strip or unit from the same, all in the usual and well-known manner. These operations take place at certain predetermined intervals, and the strip orunit is firmly grasped and advanced each time such operations occur, even though one or more fragments or accumulations of foreign matter, such as appear at 14 in the last view, get between the jaws while open, since in that event the finger or fingers 9 with which the obstruction or obstructions come into contact yield under the force of the closing jaw 6 and the remaining fingers 9 are thus permitted to gripthe strip or unit with sufficient force to enable the jaws to perform their function properly. hen next the aws are opened the obstruction or obstructions drop out. Any obstruction, in order to affect the feeding operation, would have to be between the jaw 6 and the gripping surface or edge 12 of one of the fingers 9, or between a finger and the cross piece 3, or of sufficient size to present when between such finger and the jaw 6 behind such edge 12 the proper action of said finger, but as already explained the feeding operation is not interfered with at all by the presence of foreign matter between the jaws or jaw members, the jaw made up of orincluding a plurality of yielding sections or, fingers be ing responsible for the uninterrupted and successful working of the jaws at all such times. 7

That both the old and new parts and members which enter into the present invention may be modified or varied to a greater or less extent, in matters of'shape, size, arrangement and construction, will be clearly apparent to one skilled in the art to which said invention appertains, hence I do not desire or intend to be limited to the details of construction herein shown and described, beyond such limitations as may be imposed by my claims.

lVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A gripping jaw, for feeding mecha'- nism, comprising a pair of oscillatory arms provided with a cross piece, and a plurality of resilient gripping members attached to said cross piece and arranged independent of the latter for a normal amount of movement under pressure that is common to all, and capable of yielding individually beyond the normal point.

2. In feeding mechanism, relatively-operating gripping jaws, one of such jaws being unyielding and the other comprising a plurality of resilient members arranged and adapted to cooperate with said unyielding 3. In feeding mechanism, relatively op erating gripping aws, one of such jaws be ing unyielding and the other comprising a plurality of members arranged and adapted to cooperate with said unyielding jaw and capable of yielding sectionally.

41. In feeding mechanism, relatively-op crating gripping jaws, one of such jaws being unyielding and the other comprising a plurality of members arranged and adapted to cooperate with said unyielding jaw and capable of yielding collectively under pressure thereon from said unyielding jaw.

5. In feeding mechanism, relatively-opcrating gripping aws', one of such jaws'being unyielding and, the other comprising a plurality of members'arranged and adapted to cooperate with said unyielding aw and fingers, of a second suitably supported cross capable of yielding collectively and indipiece arranged and adapted to serve as a 10 vidually under pressure thereon from said gripping member to cooperate with said finunyielding jaw. gers.

6. The combination, in feeding mecha- CHARLES J. FANCHER. nism, with a suitably supported cross piece, Witnesses: and a resilient plate connected with said G. A. ANGER, ,cross piece and slotted to form gripping F. A. CUTTER.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

